Kansai Beer Lovers 関西のビール愛好会: Stillwater Artisinal Event at Dig Bar + Brian "Stillwater" Strumke

Last Friday, I was lucky enough to be invited to join AQ Bevolution's Kansai Launch Event of Stillwater Artisinal at Dig Bar in Osaka. In attendance was Brian Strumke, aka Brian Stillwater, who I was lucky enough to chat with before the event got into full swing.

They had a selection of 7 Stillwater beers available for the first time in Japan: Classique, Stateside Saison, Why Can't IBU (great name), Cellar Door, Folklore, As Follows & Existent.

taking tasting notes

The first question I asked Brian was "Why did he decide now was the right time to export to Japan?" He explained that now that he is working with Two Roads Brewing he finally has enough beer to export.

And like most people would if given the chance he chose to export to countries that he always wanted to visit. The lucky ones were Japan, Brazil and Australia. He hit Brazil last month and is going to Australia next month. Brian's a busy guy these days and yeah I'm jealous since I have yet to go to Brazil or Autralia myself. Someday...

I asked him about the fact that the original event info had only 4 beers available and what was responsible for this sudden increase (not that I was complaining mind you). Basically, problems delayed the shipping date and by the time those were sorted out Stillwater had a bunch of additional beers ready and available for shipping. AQ Bevolution smartly jumped at the chance and snapped them up thus pretty much doubling the variety of beers for the Japan Launch of Stillwater. A fortuitous situation!

My next question was about his status as a gypsy brewer and where exactly all of today's beers were made. He let me know that all the beers imported to Japan so far have been brewed at Two Roads but in the future we can expect some small batch beers brewed at smaller breweries to make it over here in small quantities. These limited releases will of course have a higher price tag but should be worth.

Brian also mentioned some other beers that should be joining the Stillwater family in Japan soon including A Saison Darkly and Of Love & Regret!

As a gypsy brewer who's working at some very advanced high tech breweries these days (Two Roads) he's not involved that much in the day to day brewing which is mostly automated. This gives him the chance to focus on developing new beer recipes and keep an eye on quality control by checking batches as they're ready to release.

Brian got his start like many people homebrewing and as a homebrewer myself, we chatted about how we got started and I referred to what he said in a previous interview where he said:

"From there, I just kept getting more and more crazy, because I realized that if I’m going to spend an entire day, and then multiple hours after that, caring for this beer and packaging it, I wasn’t saving money by making beer at home, so my idea was just to make something that was unavailable in the stores. I didn’t want to make IPAs or stouts. I wanted to make new libations. From the very beginning, that’s how I started the path that I followed."

I told him I basically follow the same brewing philosophy. In Japan, we have access to lots of great hoppy imports as well as an increasing number of good domestic hoppy craft beers so I tend to brew seasonals that might not make it in time to Japan like pumpkin beers. Brian isn't a fan of ultra-spicy pumpkin ales and me neither we both seem to prefer pumpkin beers which are more pumpkin than spice forward.

During that chat when I said that my second brew was a lager due to brewing in the winter in a cold Japanese house he revealed that the same thing happened to him "I started brewing saisons as my basement had 80F (27C) degree temperatures so I needed to use a high temperature yeast and it pushed me to master saison yeasts"

So Brian Stillwater's love for the flexibility and loosely defined saison style began due to a homebrewer having to brew in less than ideal circumstances. Necessity is the mother of invention! In my opinion, this little fact paved the way for him becoming a saison specialist that brews a saison for everyone from dry, fruity, funky to barnyard he's got a saison for every taste!

Stillwater Classique 4.5%
Post-Prohibition Style Beer IBU 10

A slightly cloudy straw gold pour with a big foamy head that leaves behind good lacing. Fruity funky saison yeast notes in the nose. Zesty soft carbonation, ascerbic mouth puckeringly bitter, saison spice, some citrus & a dry bitter finish. At first I got some metallic notes but the second time around not so much. Later on served in an aroma glass at room temperature. It has a more grassy spicy aroma with the classic saison nose. A light zesty body with an ascerbic mouthfeel, mild metallic notes, spices, quite tasty stuff. Lots of flavor for the low ABV. This beer grew on me. Solid.

Stillwater Why Can't IBU 5.7%
IPA/Saison Hybrid IBU 23

I love the punny name. Much more of a funky aroma & a slightly darker gold than Classique with some fruity banana or bubblegum in the nose. Barnyard funk, spicy, fruity with a very dry finish that has an almost cinnamon quality to it. It didn't seem all that IPA like as I felt the Classique had more of a bitter kick though a lower IBU. I heard from others who had it in a more typical glass that they got much more of a hop profile from it with some citrusy hoppiness.

Stillwater Stateside Saison 6.8%
American Farmhouse Ale IBU 18

These saisons should really hit the spot this summer. This pours a crystal clear gold with a nice head of foam. Probably clearer than either the Classique or Why Can’t IBU. It has more of a fruity Belgian blonde aroma while the taste is fruity, zesty with tons of spicy estery goodness. Really nice, my favorite of the night.

Stillwater As Follows 9%
An Eschatological Ale - Belgian Strong

A clear deep yellow shining gold. A great yeasty full spicy aroma. A smooth med-full bodied beer. A really tasty beer that has benefited from getting to room temperature. Fruity, spicy, funky goodness, I feel it is actually tastier warm than cold. The amazing thing about this beer is it is so easy to drink I had no idea it was 9%.

Stillwater Folklore 8.4%
An Untraditional Stout - Foreign Stout IBU 33

One of their rare dark beers, it’s brewed with the Rochefort yeast strain. It pours a dark brown with a rusty beige head. The aroma is plum, roasty chocolate with a bunch of umami meatiness. The mouthfeel is quite nice, silky smooth & full bodied. The taste is sharp, fruity, dark roasty, pitted fruits - cherry-like. Great for people who like big bold dark beers that are a bit in your face.

Stillwater Cellar Door 6.5%
Belgian White brewed with Sage IBU 12

On tap at the Stillwater at Dig Bar. It pours a clear deep gold with a thin filmy head that quickly dissipates. A huge sage aroma assaults your nose but in a good way. The flavor is somewhat candy sweet with a funky saison character and tons of sage. Really interesting stuff. I enjoyed it as I am a fan of fruit beers though for a witbier I felt it was a bit too clear but that's just quibbling really.

Stillwater Existent 7.4%
American Farmhouse Ale - Black Saison IBU 20

The brewer himself found it hard to categorize this beer but I’d say it is a blend of a robust porter & a saison. It pours a beautiful clear ruby brown. The aroma is nutty & mild at first but over time grows to become more pronounced. Medium bodied, chocolate, nuts and wine notes are present in the taste. This is a subtle beer that like the other Stillwater beers really open up & evolve as they warm up. One of my favorites of the night.

While in Japan, Brian Stillwater also took the chance to brew a collaboration with Hitachino Nest a Sake Saison. Apparently, it was a small batch that will only be distributed in Japan by Hitachino Nest in very small quantities. If it's well received we can expect to see them brewing it again. I just hope I get a chance to try it when it's released!

Left to Right: Albert Kuwano of AQ Bevolution, Brian Stillwater & Myself

At the bar

Left Stateside on draft Right from a bottle

Since Brian Stillwater is a saison specialist I felt that he should try a beer from one of Japan's saison specialists: Tamamura Honten aka Shiga Kogen. To that end I brought one of their barrel aged Yamabushi Saison One's to share.

Coincidentally, Dig Bar has some empties up on their roof and when Brian had come in he'd asked about the beer but was told they were sold out. I inadvertantly came to the rescue!